I thought this was a neat idea for a thread: break down Rodgers' best and worst melodies and Hammerstein's best and worst lyrics by show. you don't have to feel obligated to do every show; just the ones you're familair enough with. For example, I'm only doing the Big Five. Here's my list:

OKLAHOMA!

Best Melody- Many a New Day
Best Lyrics- It's a Scandal!
Worst Melody- People Will Say
Worst Lyrics- Oklahoma!

CAROUSEL

Best Melody- If I Loved You
Best Lyrics- June is Bustin' Out All Over
Worst Melody- You'll Never Walk Alone
Worst Lyrics- A Real Nice Clambake

Worst Melody- People Will SayWorst Melody- You'll Never Walk AloneWorst Melody- This Nearly Was Mine

These make me sad. Will you elaborate on why you do not like these melodies? Do you like their lyrics?

_________________"Ms. Darbus" in Disney's High School Musical, "Margot Frank" in The Diary of Anne Frank, "Princess Number Twelve" in Once Upon a Mattress, ensembles of Cinderella, The Music Man, and Sweeney Todd

Thu Apr 22, 2010 3:55 pm

Apples2for10

Broadway Legend

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:05 pmPosts: 1611Location: Eastern U.S.

Re: Best/Worst by show

SomeoneLikeYou wrote:

Apples2for10 wrote:

Worst Melody- People Will SayWorst Melody- You'll Never Walk AloneWorst Melody- This Nearly Was Mine

These make me sad. Will you elaborate on why you do not like these melodies? Do you like their lyrics?

They were tough calls to make. I actually like the lyrics for all three, and I do like People Will Say's melody quite a lot, but sadly one song from each show had to be named Worst Melody.

This Nearly Was Mine is a great song for that moment in the show (which is a relatively somber moment), and while it works for that moment, it plays like a dirge and I don't like songs that are this slow. Also (and this is the same reason I have for picking I Have Dreamed), the melody makes the singer sound whiny.

This is probably a fault of my own, but I always compare You'll Never Walk Alone with Climb Every Mountain. I like them both, but I lean towards CEM because its climax is more satisfying than 'Walk'.

_________________Brian aka Apples2for10

"...Apples is probably the one who's posted the most relevant musical stuff long term in the past few months."- UniquePerspective

Thu Apr 22, 2010 5:01 pm

Apples2for10

Broadway Legend

Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:05 pmPosts: 1611Location: Eastern U.S.

Bump

_________________Brian aka Apples2for10

"...Apples is probably the one who's posted the most relevant musical stuff long term in the past few months."- UniquePerspective

OKLAHOMA!
Best Melody: Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' (I'm a sucker for it)
Best Lyrics: People Will Say We're in Love
Worst Melody: The Farmer and the Cowman
Worst Lyrics: The Farmer and the Cowman (I'm not fond of the song, it seems)

CAROUSEL
Best Melody: Carousel Waltz (does this count? If not, What's the Use of Wond'rin')
Best Lyrics: If I Loved You
Worst Melody: Stonecutters Cut It On Stone
Worst Lyrics: Blow High, Blow Low
This one was tough--musically, Carousel's about as perfect as they come.

SOUTH PACIFIC
Best Melody: Younger Than Springtime (My knees go weak at the orchestral buildup)
Best Lyrics: This Nearly Was Mine
Worst Melody: Twin Soliloquies (it's very nice, but it's far less imaginative than Rodgers' other contributions to the score)
Worst Lyrics: Bloody Mary (they're not bad, per se, but the references have dated themselves--DiMaggio's glove anyone? Haha.)

THE KING AND I
Best Melody: March of the Siamese Children
Best Lyrics: Something Wonderful
Worst Melody: A Puzzlement (I get that a song like this doesn't need a memorable melody though--it's like Soliloquy)
Worst Lyrics: Getting To Know You

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Best Melody: Edelweiss
Best Lyrics: Sixteen Going on Seventeen
Worst Melody: Climb Every Mountain
Worst Lyrics: The Sound of Music ("A lark that is learning to pray"? Come on, Oscar!)

I am baffled! Do-Re-Mi is lazy. If one is to use 2 of the variations on the French names of the notes, one should use all. It is even worse that because of the popularity of Do-Re-Mi most people think the proper name for B is Ti and not Si.

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Mon Dec 06, 2010 5:37 am

Monsieur D'Arque

Broadway Legend

Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 3:42 pmPosts: 1816Location: Maison des Lunes

Re: Best/Worst by show

I disagree. The concept of borrowed linguistics states that if a language or culture does not have a specific word or phrase for a concept which exists in another language, it is common to borrow words or phrases from other countries until a word arises in the natural language instead.

By this standard, there was no "official" English do-re-mi notation, so the words for the notes were borrowed, some from French, some not from French. They're not trying to bastardize the French notations, they're just standardizing (or using an already fairly standardized) American notation-teaching system. It's like getting mad when someone orders "apple pie a la mode" because they didn't order the apple pie in French too. Just borrowed linguistics.

_________________"I LOVE incarceration,
I could lock up a platoon,
I'll be strapping up an inmate,
Very tightly, very soon.
So wave one bachelor goodbye,
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